Outdoor deep frying of turkeys has gained in popularity with the advent of outdoor cooking apparatus such as the Grand Slam Turkey Fryer™ of Masterbuilt Mfg. Inc. in Columbus, Ga. which includes an outdoor propane burner, large cooking pot (e.g., 30 quarts) a cooking basket (or other means for manipulating large food items as in a turkey) and a grab handle. A cooking apparatus of this type provides for deep frying large food items with turkeys (e.g., 8 to 18 lbs in weight) being illustrative. However, weather conditions or the lack of a suitable location (e.g., apartment dwellers) can prevent or lessen the desire to use an outdoor cooking apparatus.
As illustrated by U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,138,552 and 6,002,111 there also exist indoor, home use or domestic electric fryers. These devices, however, are designed for frying small, multiple individual food items in groups as in fries, onion rings, and vegetables.